Chemical Composition and Antioxydant Activity of Laurus nobilis Floral Buds Essential Oil

Abstract

The essential oil of Laurus nobilis floral buds (FB) collected in Tunisia was obtained by hydrodistillation and analysed by GC-MS. Twenty three constituents were identified. The main components of this oil were α-terpinyl acetate (28.43 %), methyl eugenol (19.57 %), eugenol (7.42 %) and elemicin (4.41 %). The antioxidant activity of the oil of Laurus nobilis FB was evaluated by two methods, β-carotene bleaching (BCB) test and 2.2-diphenyl-β-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay using respectively butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), trolox, gallic acid, caffeic acid and δ-tocopherol as standards. It was found that the Laurus nobilis FB oil have a significant antioxidant effect when tested by each method respectively. The antioxidant activity of this oil is more effective than the synthetic antioxidant (BHT) at 200 ppm and can be attributed to the active compounds eugenol, elemicin and methyl eugenol present in this essential oil